In addition to their recognition of Breast Cancer Awareness, the National Football League is also involved in the Keep Gym In School program to help fight the nation’s obesity problem.
Each year the NFL Network adopts a local school district and provides one deserving middle school with a $50,000 physical education grant.
The NFL Network and the local NFL franchise host a pep rally and minicamp at each school to celebrate the program. With NFL cheerleaders, mascots and a pep band in attendance at the minicamp, students take the field with players from the local team where they get to participate in NFL combine style activities.
According to the Keep Gym In School website, the percentage of students who attend daily physical education classes dropped from 42% in 1991 to 28% in 2003. Fewer than 8% of U.S. middle schools provide daily physical education for the entire school year.
Health care providers are finding more and more children with Type 2 diabetes and other conditions stemming from obesity and inactivity that were previously diagnosed almost entirely in adults aged 40 years or older.
Current annual medical costs related to obesity total $147 billion nationally – nearly 10% of all medical costs and almost twice the Center for Disease Control’s estimate in 1998.
For obese individuals, that means almost $1,500 more a year on medical costs than average-weight individuals.
Recent studies suggest unfit and overweight children also suffer academically. A 2004 study in California schools and a 2009 study in New York City schools both found that students who scored well on fitness tests scored much higher than unfit students on academic tests.
Take a few minutes to watch this recent video featuring the NFL Network’s Rich Eisen and New York Giants cornerback Corey Webster discussing the Keep Gym In School program.
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